What's On: UK

Date
11 October 2011

This week’s edition of our What’s On: UK manages to cover ground from Dundee – where there is a small print show at Dundee Contemporary Arts from Turner Prize nominee, Martin Boyce – to St Ives where the Tate has just opened the very international The Indiscipline of Painting. Sort-of in-between is the Site Gallery in Sheffield, which is playing host to a truly excellent year for the Bloomberg New Contemporaries prize (pictured is the subtly brilliant entry from Cornelia Baltes.)

Bloomberg New Contemporaries Site Gallery, Sheffield

Without acknowledging the reputation of an applicant’s place of education, The Bloomberg New Contemporaries affords the emerging talent a context to shine based on their own artistic merit. Having run for more than 60 years now, the prize is the coveted acclaim for any artist who is yet to be recognised outside of the institute they have just left, or are still studying at. As well as a couple of special looking painters and multimedia artists, I’m particularly taken with some of this year’s photography exhibits that exemplify the prize’s “radical, bold and experimental” tag line. Regardless of its sexagenarian status, the exhibition is still as exciting as the futures before its exhibiters. Showing at Site Gallery in Sheffield until November 5.
www.sitegallery.org/bloomberg-new-contemporaries

The Indiscipline of Painting: International Abstraction from the 1960s to now Tate St Ives

Even by its name, this exhibition sets out to provoke, which is likely half in response to the point that painting’s “decline and death has been routinely and erroneously declared.” Here to remind us of its very living, inspirational status is British painter Daniel Sturgis who has selected work by 49 international artists to appear under the active theme of abstraction. As a language, abstraction within painting is both urgent and relevant and the pieces chosen are revealing of both its historical significance and the prophetic importance to emerging artists. Examples include “important” artists – the Andy Warhols, Frank Stellas and Bridget Rileys – plus the exciting, new legacy of work from the likes of Tauba Auerbach, and lesser-known artists like Jeremy Moon. Showing until January 3, 2012.
www.tate.org.uk/stives/the-indiscipline-of-painting

DCA Editions – Martin Boyce Print Space, Dundee Contemporary Arts

Since being nominated for the Turner Prize earlier this year, Scottish artist Martin Boyce has risen to prominence with his atmospheric, sculptural installations: “Combining references to design history and text, marked by a subtle attention to detail.” The DCA’s curatorial programme of artist prints and strikingly-graphic modernist designs is a real visual side-step from what we’d come to expect from Boyce since his recent move into the limelight of contemporary arts. A great insight into the 2D workings from a personal favourite up for this year’s prize. Show runs until November 30.
www.dca.org.uk/whats-on/martin-boyce

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Bryony Quinn

Bryony was It’s Nice That’s first ever intern and worked her way up to assistant online editor before moving on to pursue other interests in the summer of 2012.

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